


Of Gods and their Humans Gift Collection

by cato_universe



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Fluff, Gods, M/M, Magic, Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed, Story Collection, black elk nines, elder gods au, no beta we die like men, nothing graphic but outdoor sex, this is hard to tag lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:02:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21890110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cato_universe/pseuds/cato_universe
Summary: A collection of fics that take place in the wonderful BE9 universe, written for the lovely OhNoMyBreadsticks.1. After the Rain- Gavin hates the rain, but Niles shows him there's beauty in storms as well.2. Christmas- Gavin gets Niles a present on a whim but doubts if it's worthy of his boyfriend.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	1. After the Rain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OhNoMyBreadsticks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhNoMyBreadsticks/gifts).



> This takes place in the wonderful universe [Of Gods and their Humans](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1219730), created by the talented OhNoMyBreadsticks. 
> 
> If you don't know what I'm talking about, PLEASE go read that series! It's truly wonderful! Bready is such a great writer (also, elk elder god Niles, what more could you need???).

When Gavin wakes up, he’s alone.

That’s unusual.

Not because Niles never goes out when Gavin sleeps. Today, however, is special because it’s raining. 

Even from under the soft warm furs Gavin can smell it, taste the rain water on his tongue. He hates the rain, and Niles knows this, and he makes sure never to leave Gavin alone when a storm is raging outside.

Although he knows he shouldn’t be, when Gavin leaves his bed of pelts, he’s unsettled. Inside the cave, the sound of the rain is loud, bouncing oddly off the stone walls, a white noise that Gavin is never able to find soothing. Instead, it reminds him of an empty apartment, and dusty furniture, and a lonely child waiting by the window.

The memory is so intense that it feels to Gavin like an electric shock. He shakes himself like he always does, trying to dismiss the feeling that cling to his skin like that awful itchy ivy Gavin has learnt not to get close to.

 _Not the same, not the same_ , he chants like a mantra, but the loneliness still lingers.

This is why Gavin hates rain, for this awful loneliness that soaks into his heart, all the tears he has ever shed while alone, with no one to soothe him or hold him.

 _Always waiting_.

The thought is like a dark tendril Gavin knows not to listen to, if only it were that easy. His mind is restless, that awful little voice made loud without Niles there to quiet it, but — isn’t true for Niles as well? It’s not the first time Gavin waits for him to come back, and it’s also not the first time he’s noticed he’s the one that’s always waiting.

Always, always waiting for others, but never someone waiting for him.

Gavin swallows, hating himself for these ugly thoughts. Something violent rises within him, an acid burning feeling, his usual reaction to his self hatred. However, around him the cave is modest, orderly, and so filled with traces of Niles' devotion that Gavin is left without a way to channel his feelings, hands clenching open and closed as he struggles with himself.

When Gavin opens his eyes, the cave is blissfully silent.

It takes him a while to realize this is not entirely true, but when he turns towards the entrance of the cave, he sees it: the rain has abated, and the day, a moment ago dark, has brightened with the golden light of the sun.

Gavin blinks, surprised, but too pleased by the unexpected turn of events to complain, he goes to the mouth of the cave. However, when he peeks out he realizes he’s wrong.

Outside, it’s still raining. The harsh fat drops of water have given way to a light drizzle, the rain now a gentle murmur, the sound almost a whisper. And Gavin looks up, and his eyes widen in wonder.

He’s been plenty of times in the forest, with or without Niles. He’s seen plenty of wondrous things, almost all of them some things that Niles has shown him— the precious moment in which a flower peeks under the snow, the sweet smell of a spring meadow. Gavin has heard the song of deep forgotten rivers, felt under his feet the moss of paths unknown, walked under trees so old they might witnessed the beginning of the word. Niles has shown him life, and rebirth, and Gavin has loved everything as a part of someone he loves as well, and even so he doesn’t think he’s seen anything quite so wondrous as the scene before him now.

By some strange miracle, the sun is shining through the grey clouds, turning the rain into a shower of crystal, droplets luminous as the fall amongst the limpid green of the forest.

Enchanted, Gavin walks into it, and the little beautiful jewels fall around Gavin, adorning his hair and his clothes, and his lashes.

On his skin, the rain feels gentle and warm, like kisses, and for a moment Gavin relishes the feeling, allows himself to think it’s Niles who’s kissing him, his lover’s lips brushing lightly over his brow, over his cheeks.

When Gavin walks forward, the earth is warm from the summer heat, and Gavin thinks it mustn’t be so. But there is an unmistaken energy pulsing under Gavin’s feet, sweet and powerful and intoxicating, and this reminds Gavin of Niles too, of his breath, of his smile, of the forest hidden in his eyes.

Maybe it’s because of this power that Gavin begins to walk. He doesn’t go too far, he never does without Niles, but there are white and purple flowers decorated with little droplets of water and Gavin follows the path they make, taking in the bright rain and breathing in the fragrant smell of the forest until he feels dizzy, the air stronger than wine.

He walks as if in a trance, and when he notices he’s come into a clearing, and there, under a huge oak tree, he sees Niles, waiting for him. 

The shock snaps Gavin out of his stupor, but still he stands paralyzed, rooted into the entrance of the clearing as if he were a tree himself. Niles, however, has no inner turmoil. His face brightens when he sees Gavin, as if he has been waiting for a long time, and he might have, as far as Gavin knows.

He walks to Gavin, and when he’s within arm length Gavin can’t help but shiver because Niles eyes are dark like a storm.

“Beautiful,” Niles says, eyes roaming over Gavin. “Better than any jewel.” He brushes a stray rain drop away from Gavin’s eyes, and the way he looks a Gavin is like the man is covered in the most exquisite jewelry and not, well wet. “I’ve been wanting to give you something beautiful,” Nines confides, “and this is the most beautiful thing I could imagine.”

The blush that covers Gavin’s face is violent, not sweet and gentle as the rain around them. And yet, something stirs deep within Gavin, both at the praise and because Niles is echoing a thought he has often had himself.

The rain falls like a shower of light around them, and when Niles touches Gavin’s face he’s so very gentle, reverent, and fuck, but Gavin doesn’t deserve such a touch.

“You deserve it,” Niles informs him as if reading his mind. Now he’s close enough that he has to lift Gavin’s face to him, and _god_ , but Niles is shirtless, and his skin feels as hot and smells as intoxicating as the power that brought Gavin here, his presence all encompassing. “I wish I could express— I’d give you everything,” Niles whispers into Gavin’s ear, vulnerable but also afraid because he is a god, and that sort of wish is a terrible thing.

But Gavin feels the words settle around his neck, and instead of the weight they could become, they rest comfortingly over his skin like a spell of safety. A promise. 

A reassurance.

Gavin simply lowers his lashes, heavy with delicate water drops, and dares rest a hand on Niles’ bare chest, just over the place his heart would be if he were human.

Under his hand, Niles quakes, the understanding of Gavin’s request piercing through him like an arrow.

“Yes,” he pledges, kissing the shell of Gavin’s ear. “Yes. Anything.”

There's an urgency to the way they kiss, hands touching and taking and caressing. The same warmth as before envelops Gavin, and he’s drunk again, although this time he’s sure it’s Niles fault— the fault of his hands, and his voice, and his kisses, and his love.

They make love in the clearing in the summer rain, and Gavin moans as each drop kisses his skin because it does feel like Niles, and he wants too much, and he loves so much it’s earth shattering.

There’s a storm somewhere, Gavin’s sure, but where they are there’s only warmth. 

* * *

It’s an eternity later that Gavin gathers enough force of will to speak, much less to move, but he uses his mild indignation to playfully smack Niles’ arm. His lover, from where he’s sitting against the trunk of the oak tree, weaving a grass basket with Gavin sprawled on his lap, raises an eyebrow.

“Did we do some weird magic sex thing again?” Gavin asks. It’s an effort to huff, but he does it for the effect because he wants to see amusement in Niles’ beautiful eyes.

“Are you displeased?” Niles inquires, but there’s a current of tension under it that Gavin can’t stand to remain unaddressed for a second longer.

“Nah,” he shrugs, sitting down. “It’s part of you.”

Something shifts around them, enough that it startles the birds on the tree enough to make them fly away. Gavin looks up with curiosity, and when he looks back down at Niles, it’s with good enough timing to catch a strong emotion pass through his face.

Everything settles after a moment, and Gavin watches in wonder as Niles whole countenance softens, love and adoration and something soft and vast and endless turned towards Gavin.

“Let’s get you dry,” Niles says, affectionately bushing Gavin’s cheek. “Wouldn’t want you to get sick.”

“Yeah, you’d never let me live that down,” Gavin grumbles without heat.

If it takes them a while to make it back to the cave, it’s only because they kiss every time Gavin stumbles. These kisses however, are playful, light, teasing. They are not in a hurry of any kind, because they are together, so they are home.

And Gavin doesn’t realize until many, many years later, when he’s overall wiser, and the world has ended and began anew, and all the hardships are over; but this is the moment when he first begins to believe, against all hope, that rain can bring good and beautiful things too.


	2. Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh, so in my mind this happens some time after [What Makes Up a Man?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21780586/chapters/51970243). Hank, Connor, Gavin and Niles meet for Christmas, but there are some godly disturbances that keep Connor and Niles away for a bit. Anyway, this is my interpretation of things! I'm so sorry I'm butchering your wonderful story Bready, I'm not worthy XD! I hope you forgive the liberties I took with your characters and enjoy the fluff! You deserve all the soft and fluff and love and everything good in the world! You're a wonderful friend <3
> 
> Merry Christmas!

Afterwards, Gavin didn’t remember what was about it that caught his attention.

Despite being early in the evening, the sun had already finished setting. It was that time of the day when the sky was gold and silver, the oranges and golds of twilight already having given way to the colder colors of the night. And although it was December, and the ground was covered with ice and the first traces of snow, the market was crowded.

It was not the first time Gavin had wandered, alone, through the market.

It was strange, but he liked doing it. He’d never been one for Christmas, the cheer and people’s festive mood only serving to remind him of how empty his life was, how alone. 

He wasn’t sure when that had changed. Probably at the same time the rest of him had, the security of Niles’ love slowly transforming his mind and heart, making his whole being bloom just like flowers do under the warmth of spring. Maybe that was why now Gavin found comfort in such an unexpected place: amongst the happiness of strangers, joy curling in his chest in answer to other people’s joy, the feeling not diluted even under the pang of loneliness he always felt when Niles was not with him.

Because Niles was not with him. He had vanished together with Connor a couple of days ago to do some godly thing, and Gavin had remained behind, with Hank, with the promise they would return soon.

Although he missed him, of course, the separation wasn’t too terrible, to be honest.

Not like the nightmarish first time, with Niles captured and taken away before Gavin could notice. This time there was something sweet to the parting, because although Gavin missed Niles keenly, he was also looking forward to their reunion, to being able to tell him everything about the market and everything Gavin had seen and experienced when they were apart.

Around him, a ripple of excitement ran through the crowd, and Gavin raised his head in time to see a choir forming a line. Gavin smiled at the sight. He could feel a prickle of excitement washing over him like small droplets of water, the crowd’s mood so clear and easy to read that it was almost palpable, and not for the first time Gavin wondered if some trace of Niles’ power had rubbed on him because he had never been able to sense such a thing before.

Still, he let the lively energy envelop him, swaying with it and almost drinking from it when the people began to sing the carols.

By the time the singing ended, Gavin felt drunk, relaxed. He let the chatter envelop him, and he wandered, taking in the lights and the smells and the colors like it was the first time he’d seen such things. He felt strangely apart but in a nice way, enjoying the biting cold on his nose and his cloudy breath, wondering how he could get away with showing all of this to Niles.

Under his thick red scarf, Gavin smiled, trying to imagine Niles, tall and imposing and beautiful, walking around without a care in the world with those gorgeous horns on his head. 

No one would even blink, Gavin thought. Not while it was Christmas. People would probably line to take pictures with him, thinking him a very good cosplayer or something.

This he was thinking when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

The stand in question was modest, a far cry from the more ostentatious ones that were closer to the heart of the market. A small thing, slender, shoved against a building almost at the mouth of an alley. It had not much in the way of decoration except for a rich deep red blanket that served as elegant backdrop for the wares the owner was selling.

Dolls.

A couple dozen knitted dolls — _ crocheted _ , a sign with the prices announced— stared at Gavin with small beady eyes. A lot were animals. Cats, bears, rabbits, penguins, all dressed for the season in red and green hats and scarves.

However, these were not what caught Gavin’s eye.

A little bit apart from the others, sitting on a velvet box that placed it above the rest of the dolls, sat a strange little thing, made of yarn too dark to completely merge with the general cheer of the stand. Its beady eyes were serious in its small face, black horns attached to its head instead of the more normal brown. It had a rich deep scarf around its neck, laced with gold— giving it a more royal look than any normal doll should have.

An elk.

Gavin stared.

The dark body, the black horns—Gavin had seen Niles’ other form enough to recognize it— it was unmistakably an elk, and a black elk at that, and the sight was so unexpected that Gavin couldn’t tear his eyes away from it.

“Can I help you?” the person minding the stand asked him, and Gavin barely knew what he answered. His heart was beating hard in his chest.

Although he had money, he’d been reluctant to spend any of it on himself. It was money he had left from before he’d first gotten lost in the forest, something he thought he might never need again. It was one of the few things he could give to Niles, who had no need of wealth: money to travel, to move among the humans without drawing too much attention to themselves.

But even though the money was his, he had not spent it. Not in rich smelling hot chocolate, or in sugary roasted nuts, or any other treat, no matter how much his mouth watered, old habits difficult to break. But this one thing he purchased almost before hearing the price, and before he could talk himself out of it, the small elk doll was wrapped in a modest paper bag tied with a red and green Christmas ribbon.

The cabin the four of them were renting --Hank, Connor, Gavin and Niles-- was on the edge of the forest, close enough to the town and nature that both Connor and Niles were comfortable in it. It was a seasonal thing they had agreed on a whim, the retreat a way to spend time together as much as it served Niles and Connor’s godly purposes.

This was the place Gavin returned to, the paper bag hidden under his bulky winter jacket like he was smuggling drugs and not a doll made of yarn. From the couch in front of the fire, Gavin could hear Hank softly snoring, and he took a second to arrange the blanket over the man, petting Sumo on the way, before he went to his and Niles’ room to hide the bag under the bed like a child.

There it stayed for three days, and there it remained even when Niles returned, stern and concerned by whatever he and Connor had found.

“What happened?” Gavin asked him that night as they lay curled together in bed. It was a strange thing, to lay in a bed and not in their nest of furs, and weirder still because they had to sleep backwards with their feet to the headboard because Niles’ horns wouldn’t fit otherwise.

“We’re not sure,” Niles answered in the darkness, and surrounded by human things, under thick covers, it was the most disturbed Gavin had ever seen him. 

The next morning, however, Connor made the executive decision not to worry about anything for the time being. “Not until after Christmas,” he declared at the breakfast table, eyes shiny and determined, and that was that.

Niles looked like he wanted to argue, but some silent communication went between him and Connor, and Niles finally agreed with a nod.

In the three days left until Christmas, Connor dragged them all around town, intent on experiencing and enjoying all humans had to offer. They skated —or Connor and Hank did, as Niles felt obviously out of place and attracted too much attention with his horns—, went to watch the Christmas lights, picked out a tree, and everything Connor could think of. 

Often, however, they would part: Connor going with Hank and Gavin staying by Niles’ side, who liked much more quiet activities. And through it all, Gavin could not help but think about the little elk doll under his bed, and how foolish he felt at his impulsive purchase. It was evident that Niles was not too comfortable with the whole Christmas thing, and anyway it was not like he needed anything. He was a  _ god _ for fuck’s sake. What need did a god have of stupid sentimental little trinkets, when Gavin had seen the gold and the jewels he had been offered by people way more talented than Gavin?

Christmas dinner, however, was good because it was simple, mostly because Hank put his foot down. 

It was a simple affair. They didn’t even cook anything except for gingerbread. Hank went out to buy food from somewhere —that turned out to be delicious— and Gavin, in deference of the season and to collaborate, prepared mulled wine.

The strangest thing, Gavin thought, once he was warm and full and made pleasantly dizzy by the wine, was sitting on a table with two gods. It was surreal, somehow, because Connor was sweet and Hank kind, and Niles’ eyes sparkled, finally comfortable. The humans told stories about the past, and then Hank introduced them all to some games, and by the time they all went to bed Gavin felt warm and happy, almost like he felt that day on the market, when he’d been drunk on the excitement of a crowd.

Still, sleep didn’t claim him. He stayed awake, listening to Niles’ breathing, acutely aware of the gift hidden under the bed. The gift he had not dared to give to Niles.

Slowly, he inched out of bed. His sock-clad feet didn’t make any noise as he retrieved the paper bag and left the room, silent as a shadow.

The living room was quiet, the only sound being Sumo’s snores as the old dog blissfully slept on his bed near the couch. Full of an energy Gavin didn’t know what to do with, he went to the window, peering outside into the cold of the December night.

The world Gavin could see through the window was silver and white, ice and snow glowing softly under the light of the full moon that rose high in the sky. It looked out of a postcard, almost: the night, the stars, and the silence of the forest and a sleepy town. 

Withe moon turning everything white, like frail glass, it was the closest Gavin had felt to home. Like he was peering into another world.

The soft steps behind him surprised him but at the same time they didn’t. Even in his oversized dark jumper and yoga pants, Niles was every inch a forest god. It was evident in the way he moved, in the way he seemed to bring the forest with him, peering from his grey eyes as he calmly stared at the world.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Niles asked, a familiar question. Even in the forest Gavin would get restless every so often, and Niles would always be there to soothe him through the night.

By this point, Gavin knew what Niles would do by heart. Indeed, strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a warm embrace. However, before Niles could rest his chin against Gavin’s forehead as he liked to do, the paper bag on Gavin’s hands rustled as it was squished between them, making a noise that made Niles peer down in surprise.

And maybe because they’d had a good day, or because or the time of night. Maybe because of the silver light of the moon that transported them back home and made Niles’ face soft in all of its hard edges— maybe because of all of those things and definitely not because Gavin was deeply in love, he offered the paper bag to Niles, although a bit shyly.

“For you,” he explained, heart beating fast. “I saw it in the market when you weren’t here and it reminded me of you.”

There was surprise in Niles’ eyes as he undid the ribbon and reached inside the bag. 

The little doll was as cute as Gavin remembered, and it stared at Niles with its black beady eyes, small black horns mimicking Niles’ more regal ones. 

Slowly, Niles turned the little elk in his hands, moving him his way and that, and he was silent for so long that Gavin’s nerves finally got the best of him.

“I just—you’re always giving me things, and you’re so good for me, and I thought…” he babbled. He couldn’t for the life of him look at Niles, and when the silence extended for entirely too long, he swallowed, his stomach in knots and his heart sinking. Of course Niles didn’t like it. What had he been thinking? “Look, I know it was dumb, forget it…”

“Gavin,” Niles whispered, and the strange cadence of his voice made Gavin finally look at him.

Under the silver light of the moon, Gavin could see clearly Niles’ face. And because the moon was full and high in the sky, he had enough light to see the terrible expression that Niles wore— terrible because of the emotion, and the vulnerability, and the love.

“Gavin,” he whispered again, and it sounded like a summons, the word colored with need. When he finally could tear his eyes from the little stuffed animal, Niles’ grey eyes were soft, although disbelieving, looking at Gavin with an intense sort of wonder— as if he couldn’t believe he was real.

In a smooth movement, Niles closed the distance between them, his free hand cradling Gavin’s head gently to pull him into his arms, nuzzling at the hair above Gavin’s ear.

“Gavin,” he breathed again, peppering kisses everywhere he could reach. “Gavin.”

Gavin hid his red face in the crook of Niles’ neck, trying to subdue his heart, which had apparently grown three sizes on his chest and was currently trying to escape him and go to Niles.

“Why is it that you always do things that move me so? Don’t you know? I love you,” Niles mumbled into his ear. “I love you,” he said again. “And every single thing I receive from you, each kiss and each touch and each word, I treasure. I’ll treasure this as well.”

“It’s a dumb doll,” Gavin tried to deflect, pulling a little away to look up at Niles, “barely worth…”

But Niles’ lips silenced him, a searing kiss that striped all of the pretense from Gavin until only the truth remained.

“I love you,” Gavin whispered, and the words trembled between them, silver and shiny like little bells, still new and bright.

They kissed under the moonlight that came from the window, slow and deep, until Gavin felt his whole body thrum with energy, a soft kind of honeyed warmth too gentle to be need.

“Come back to bed,” Niles said at last, and Gavin nodded.

Gavin watched, a bit embarrassed, as Niles carefully placed the little elk on the nightstand, smiling when Niles turned him to look away from the bed.

“Wouldn’t want him to look at indecent things?” Gavin teased, and Niles made that strange, lovely sound that was his version of a chuckle.

It was not needed, as nothing truly indecent happened that night. They kissed for a long time, reveling in each other’s warmth until the kisses became languid, sleepy.

They kissed some more the next morning, when they awakened tangled with each other. They could already hear Connor and Hank tinkling around in the kitchen, but for a moment they allowed themselves to remain in their cocoon of warmth, only the two of them and the cold winter morning.

“Merry Christmas,” Gavin whispered into Niles’ skin, and the smile that was his answer was all Gavin needed in the world.

“Merry Christmas,” Niles answered, and kissed Gavin again.


End file.
